First of all we’d like to thank everyone that came to the party.  We appreciate their attendance and their very generous gifts.  Nothing makes them more happy than new toys and lots of clothes.

This was one of the few times they have skipped two naps lol.  Since it was their big day, they were entitled to it.  We started the party about 2PM and friends and family trickled in.  We served barbecue short ribs, teriyaki chicken, marinated tri-tip and all the usual side dishes.  We basically made everything ourselves compared to the catering that we normally arrange.

We didn’t have any kids games cause they were pretty busy being entertained by everyone else.  It was a temporary relief for us, but it was still hard work being hosts.  We don’t hold too many parties so we are still inexperienced in knowing how to entertain people.

Jasmine and Justice had a great time playing with our neighbor Robert who is about a year older.  Justice tries to talk to him, but he can only gesture with his hands and screams when he is excited.  Jasmine is pretty independent since she is still mastering her walking skills.

We broadcasted the party on the internet using Livestream.  This gave our other friends access to the party.  You can access the link to see an archive of the party.  We also have it here on Nispiros Portal as a widget on the sidebar.

We sang ‘Happy Birthday’, opened gifts, then basically wined down until all the guests left.  It was a good day.  We are thinking for next year we will celebrate their birthday outside the home like at the park or some other fun place.  They will be more mobile and hopefully will be talking by then.

For now here are some pictures and videos from the party.  All the photos are in their birthday gallery.

Their milestones include:

• Holding their head up within the first 3 months
• Eating baby food after 6 months
• Saying Dada and sometimes Mama after 9 months
• Standing and walking after 10 months
• Learning to communicate ‘no’ after 11 months

Things we still have to work on:

• Sleeping through the night
• Getting Jasmine to sleep in her own bed
• Learning to be more independent when Mommy has to do chores
• Holding their milk bottle by themselves
• Jasmine to learn to take formula or whole milk

Today is Thursday and we still have a lot of preparing to do.  Even though we have a very small house.  It takes forever to clean because the kids just don’t like to be left alone.  We haven’t even framed their pictures from Thanksgiving for God’s sake!

Speaking of pictures, here are a few from their first year.  You can see the rest in our Photo Gallery.

As exhausted as we are, we are also excited that they will be walking into toddler-hood in the next few days.  For our friends and family (including our friends in the blogosphere) who can not be at the party, we will be broadcasting live this Saturday, July 31 starting at 2PM PST.

You can watch the video from our portal or watch it directly from the livestream website.  Here is where you can watch us this Saturday.

Nispiros Portal Webcam

Livestream – Nispiros Portal

See you online!  If I look tired, it’s because I am!

Our road trip started from Elk Grove.  It was our first time using our new car seats long distance.  Note to self - Justice and Jasmine are not yet ready to sit in the back by themselves.  Take the truck next time and Ebru to sit in the back to entertain them.  Before leaving Elk Grove, we had to stop for gas, pocket money, and Jamba Juice.

The traffic wasn’t too bad considering it was the weekend.  We had left much later than we wanted, but we were determined to go to the City.  After about 2 1/2 hours of laughing, crying, and sleeping, Justice and Jasmine got safely to Mom’s site.

Justice saying a prayer

We gave Mom some flowers, said a few prayers, and let Justice and Jasmine hang out for awhile.  As usual the weather in Colma, CA was a little damp for their little bodies, so we couldn’t stay too long.  This was their first visit to Grandma, not including the visit when they were still in mommy’s tummy.  Speaking of mommy, here is Ebru and Jasmine trying to stay warm.

Mommy and Jasmine

After our final prayers and diaper changes we headed out to lunch.  What’s great about Mom’s site is that it is very close to Max’s Chicken.  We just HAD to stop there.

See ya Mom!

After our heavy yet satisfying lunch we headed back to the City to meet up with Ebru’s friend Filiz.  Filiz, her husband and family were staying in the City to watch the SF Giants play.  Luckily for Ebru, Filiz stayed behind so we can chat and take a walk to nearby Chinatown.

Me, Mommy and the Kids

Filiz, Mommy and the Kids

Chinatown was busy with tourists and locals as usual.  My main goal was to get out of Chinatown with at least some pork buns, sesame rolls, and rice cakes.  Mission accomplished!  We then headed back to Filiz’s room to wind down before our trip back to Sac.

Justice and Jasmine had a lot of stored up energy from sitting all day.  It was hard to contain them at the apartment, but good for us because we were hoping for a more peaceful ride back.

Filiz and Jasmine

All in all it was a good day.  It was great visiting mom and Filiz and just great being back in the City, which I have missed.  We’ll be back . . .

Here’s a little video of our day in the City.

We were there when Justice took his first steps. We were overjoyed and he screamed with happiness. He was standing next to our DVD rack when he got up, without holding anything, then took 2 side steps. That was a week ago. Yesterday, he was standing in the middle of the living room and took about 8 steps towards me. He would have walked further but Minik and Jasmine where standing in his way lol.

Jasmine is getting there. So far she is standing without support. She just needs to take a step or two. We think that she’ll be on her own and walking in about 2 weeks.

Now that they are more mobile they are less frustrated. They can freely go from one room to another. This has been a big help for us. However, they are only happy when they have a full tummy AND when someone is in the room with them. If they are left alone, then they go after us and most times cry. If they are totally absorbed in play, then they are ok with being left alone, at least until they notice that they are by themselves.

On another positive note, they have started to play and laugh together. It’s not consistent, but at least they have started. They mostly interact with each other at night right before their bath. They love crawling through this toy shaped like a tunnel. They also love their new toy which we got a Once Upon A Child. It’s a standing toy and it has this microphone that amplifies through the built in speaker as well as other stuff around it.

We have also changed the way we give them a bath. We used to wash them in a plastic tub over the kitchen sink. This week we have started to bathe them in our master bedroom tub. They sit in this plastic seat that attaches to the side of the tub. They are still getting used to this new method. It’s a bit more challenging for us because we have to kneel down and do a lot of reaching around to get water, toys, and soaps.

Their sleep is still inconsistent. At best Justice wakes up once a night. For Jasmine maybe twice. Could be that their body is going through changes. Teething doesn’t help.

Justice has two bottom teeth and his two top teeth are coming out. Jasmine has one and half teeth coming out. I say one and half because it’s really two, but the second one is half the size of the one next to it lol.

They continue to eat more solid food. We feed them our food like stewed carrots, potato soup and anything that is mashable in their mouths. Here they are at our favorite local eatery Panera Bread.

This month’s milestone of standing, walking, and playing together has been a sigh of relief for us. We now have hope that things will get better.

Wonder Twins

They are surely Wonder Twins in many ways.  Justice and Jasmine are finally starting to interact with one another.  In fact, they have started to mimic us and have been able to repeat actions from memory.  They really know and understand what is funny and what is not.

For example when they are sitting at the table Jasmine will pull Justice’s t-shirt.  She pulls it so hard it falls off his shoulder and Justice laughs knowing that his shirt is half off lol.

Justice on the other hand puts his finger in Jasmine’s mouth.  She’ll clamp down on his finger and bit it and Justice will just laugh.  Jasmine knows it’s funny and just leaves his finger there.  Funny and gross at the same time.  Especially if you knew where Justice’s finger has been through out the day.

They also mumble in harmony.  They have this thing where they put the back of their hand against their mouths and just move it back and forth as they try to talk.  When one does it, the other starts in unison.

They are both sensitive.  When Jasmine cries, Justice just looks at us with that look, ‘hey what’s wrong with her?’.  When Justice cries, then Jasmine cries too lol.  Justice, however, is sensitive if your raise your voice at him or towards him lol.  I could raise my voice at our dog Minik and Justice will think you’re mad at him lol.

The fun never ends in our household (or the crying).

First of all we knew that we were taking a risk taking two 10-month old across country on a very long airplane ride.  We thought that we would suffer any consequence knowing that we would be on a ship and visiting exotic islands in the West Caribbean.   We could have not been more wrong.

The flight from Sacramento to Tampa was ok.  Justice and Jasmine did better than what we expected.  They cried a few times and took cat naps during the flight.  We got to Tampa in one piece and we met up with our good friends Ron and Tracy and their wonderful kids Jared and Sage.

A day at the beach

The next two days was a piece of cake.  We had a great time visiting the sights and sounds of Tampa and the surrounding cities and beaches.  I almost forgot about the humidity because we were in such great company.  We had a sushi dinner on Friday, then hit the beach on Saturday and also got to visit the Hood Mansion.

As always it is always sad to leave good friends that we hardly get to see because of the distance between us.  We slept through our sadness on Saturday to get ready for our embarkation on Sunday morning.

We got to the Tampa Port within minutes and we got a porter to help us with our luggage.  It was tough lugging around 4 cases plus our carry one for 2 adults and 2 infants.  Not to mention the double stroller AND their car seats.  Call us crazy, but call us.

We got on the Carnival Legend without any problems.  When we got on board our room was ready, including a crib for Justice, and our luggage trickled in within the next few hours.  As usual I was hungry so we headed for the buffet.  The food was good, but we had better on other cruise lines.

This time we upgraded for a room with a balcony.  I actually never stepped out there and was too afraid to go out there with the kids.  It was cramped especially with the crib in the middle of the room and stuff scattered all over the place.  But we made due.  We spent a lot of time outside the room anyway just strolling them around and getting used to the ship’s layout.

Justice and Jasmine were immediate celebrities.  Every where we went people asked, ‘are they twins?’.  By the end of the cruise everyone new their names and love to play with them.  They seemed ok with it.  We met a lot of nice people through Justice and Jasmine.  The only thing is no matter how tired we were, we had to keep a smile on our face cause people were being so friendly with us/them.

Finally!

After the second day we finally got to the first island of Grand Cayman.  The water was beautiful, but the beach was a little rocky.  It was the first time that Justice and Jasmine ever set foot in the ocean or any body of water for that matter.  They enjoyed it!  At the local restaurant they had one of the best fish sandwiches we ever had.

Lunch time

The second island was Cozumel.  They had beautiful blue/turquoise waters, but too much coral and shells on the sandy and short beach.  We tried their fish sandwich here, but it wasn’t as good as the one at the Grand Cayman stop.  The Mayan tour was interesting.  I came back with mosquito bites from head to toe.

Jasmine snoozing

The third island was Isla Roatan.  This island was the best of the islands on the itinerary.  We were on a private beach which was picture perfect.  Lunch was included.  Justice and Jasmine enjoyed the peace and quite of this island.

Picture Perfect

The last stop was Belize.  We were quite disappointed.  Our tour was one of the lamest tours we’ve been on.  We didn’t feel safe on this island.  To put it shortly, we won’t be back.

Justice enjoying the sights

This was the end of our island excursions and it was time for the ship to head back to the states.  It was formal night again and we were greeted with warm and sympathetic smiles at our usual table.  The last two nights was a little rough because the on board party would start at 10:30pm just when Justice and Jasmine were trying to sleep.

Overall, our trip was good.  It wasn’t as relaxing as we hoped, but lessons learned.  The flight back, however, was a nightmare.  Jasmine cried for about 3 1/2 hours straight during our 5 1/2 flight back home.  Justice was just ok.  He didn’t sleep much either.  The kids sitting behind me were loud little whiners.

One good thing that came out of this trip is that Justice learned how to clap his hands.  I guess from all the on board entertainment he now understands that clapping is a good thing.  Jasmine, however, has taken a step back.  She now cries whenever we put her down on the floor or leave her for even a second.

Who knows when my next post will be.  Raising these two isn’t getting any easier. . . .

You can find the rest of our vacation photos here – Cruise 2010.

Before his haircut

While we were out and about we decided to get Justice a haircut. Here is a before and after shot.  Justice got real excited when he got to sit in the fire truck seat like a big boy.  He was well behaved except when he accidentally hit his head on the steering wheel lol.

Oh by the way the massage at Envy Massage was decent.  The masseuse who had me had some very strong (and dry) hands.  I like how the spa is close by.  However, the next time I’ll just have to try someone different.  In either case, I left the parlor relaxed and tired at the same time.

After his haircut

We then headed to Orchard Supply to pick up some tomato plants.  When it gets warmer, we’ll plant these little puppies.  Tomatoes are a staple item in our household during Spring and Summer months.  We will be sure to get Justice and Jasmine used to our Spring ritual.

Going back to my birthday.  It was a good pre-birthday as I said.  I’m feeling different in a special way because it will be my first birthday as a father.  Yes a Father.  I think it’s finally sinking in after 8 months.  I now have off-spring to carry my name and our family’s traditions.  It may not sound so big right now, but thinking about it today made me feel like I’m setting new ground for our family’s future.

I never really thought much about it until today.  I/we have these two little beings to carry on our legacy, whatever that legacy is.  I just hope it’s good and I hope they make it better.  That would be a gift of a lifetime.  I am still reflecting on the potential they have and the positive impact they will make on our family someday.  God help them.

We ended the day having Pho for dinner.  It hit the spot!  Here they are just being them.  It’s time to go to sleep.  When I wake up it will be my real birthday.  Not sure what Ebru has planned or not.  I’m just happy to spend another day with her and the kids.

Happy at the table

Ready for action

In my previous post I talked about Justice’s eczema.  Through this whole experience we had to change our routine.  The end result is that Justice is now more comfortable.  He’s more comfortable during the day and more restful during the night.

What’s new to this mix is that lately Justice has been turning over onto his stomach.  We’ve been worried that he might suffocate himself so we have removed most blankets and other threats from his crib.  This week alone I woke up in worry and had to see how he was during through the night.  To help with my worries I loosened his swaddle before going to sleep so he could later escape from it and use his arms to prop himself up when he turns down.  This seemed to work.

Jasmine has a little more work to do in this area.  She still gets up at night, but because she is breast feed, Ebru is right there to comfort her as needed.  She fortunately does not have eczema like Justice.  Jasmine also still have some trouble sleeping during the day.  Somehow she doesn’t like the dark if it is not night time.  Even while driving, if I pass under a overpass, she will kinda freak out and open her eyes wider as if that will make it brighter lol.

Feeding time has been interesting.  Now that I have been home because of my foot surgery, I have been able to observe their eating habits more consistently.  What is new here is that we have been introducing them to the next stage of food, which is dinner baby food.  This would be stuff like sweet potato and turkey,  vegetables and chicken, or turkey and rice.  For the most part, Justice eats the new baby food without too much of a fight.  For this we are very happy.  It is what we expected when they were at 6 months.  Hopefully, this will continue when I go back to work on Monday.

Jasmine on the other hand is tight lipped.  If she doesn’t like the flavor of the food, she won’t open her mouth.  No matter if we try to make her laugh, she will laugh and smile, but with her mouth closed.  We have to prey her mouth open with the spoon.  She is very smart in this regard.  She definitely won’t do something she doesn’t want to do.  I hope it’s a trait she’ll carry on through adulthood.

All we have to say is thank God for Baby Einstein and all the different baby jumper toy makers out there.  Without these devices, we would not be half as sane as we are today.  Since Justice and Jasmine have been able to sit up, they can now watch videos or sit on the floor and play.  We’ve been wanting this for awhile now.  It’s still not perfect, but at this stage we will take 5 minutes more than what we had before which was nothing.  I guess we’ll have to take baby steps before we can get to 1/2 hour without any crying or complaining.  The thing about both of them is that when they see Ebru they both cry.  Not in a bad way, but in a ‘hey pick me up’ way.  We’ll  have to work on breaking that dependency.

With all these new changes and with the improved weather, we have been able to go out and get a breath of fresh air.  They both still love going outdoors, especially Justice.  He loves to people watch.  Jasmine can go either way.  She requires more entertaining on our part, which is not a problem.  She’s our little princess (and our prince).

Here they are at our recent outings.

One bad trait the Justice has gotten from me is eczema. I have a mild case of it.  I keep it under control by taking fish oil and flax seed pills.  If it ever gets out of hand then I have to bust out with Calamine lotion and Benadryl pills.  For the last week Justice’s eczema has increasing gotten worse.  In some areas of his back and buttocks, he has scratched himself raw!

Today we decided to visit the doctor.  We read up on dry skin and eczema pamphlets while we were waiting.  Based on what we read we have been doing everything it suggests.  We finally got to see the doctor and he provide his solution.

We have to change it up and do something different.  Eczema cream and Calamine lotion was obviously not working.  He recommended using ointment like Vaseline as well as hydro-cortisone.   The best thing about his recommendation was the use of oral medication, which is Benadryl.  We never bought it because they don’t make a toddler version.  It’s only recommended for kids ages 2 and up.  In our case, we have his recommendation to take it, but only 1/2 a teaspoon.

Tonight is the first time we are using all these products.  We’re hoping for a miracle because Justice has been miserable.  He scratches his back against the back of his chair like a bear scratches his back against a tree.  It’s not a pretty sight.

He didn’t look too uncomfortable in the waiting room today.  Jasmine was very patient sitting with mommy.  They are little troopers when they want to be lol.

I was planning a surprise lunch for her at Scott’s Seafood on the River at 1PM today.  In order for us to meet our reservations we had to prepare Justice and Jasmine.  It takes coordination and planning for any outing.  Some of the activities include, find the right outfits, preparing the baby bag, and ensuring that everything we need is in the designated vehicle.  If we are going to be out for a couple of hours in a public place, then we have to make sure they are feed well and changed.  The last thing we need is a hungry smelly baby at a nice restaurant.

Surprisingly our preparation paid off!  Justice and Jasmine were as well behaved as they can be.  Here’s a video of them at the table enjoying the day.

They even made it through dessert.  This is rare and definitely a great gift for Ebru on her birthday.  I just hope it’s a positive trend moving forward.